Follower-last.



No. 666,726. Patented .Ian. 29, l90l. E. C. WRIGHT.

FOLLOWER LAST. plieation filed Apr. 2, 1900.

llllll UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

ELLERY O. WRIGHT, OF BROOKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLLOWER-LAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 666,726, dated January29, 1901.

Application filed April 2, 1900. Serial No. 11,144. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELLERY C. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Brockton, county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Follower-Lasts, of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention is an improvement in lasts, being particularly intended forwhat are termed follower-lastsi. e. lasts which are primarily used inconnection with filling out or holding the shoes in shape after theyhave been lasted-although I do not intend to restrict my invention forall purposes to this class of lasts.

In the process of manufacturing shoes it is desirable after the shoeshave been lasted and the first lasts have beenremoved therefrom and theleather of the shoes has contracted or shrunk more or less from itsoriginal distened shape when the first last was in place within the shoeto restore the shoes to their original distended shape and maintain themin such distended or stretched condition during the remainder of themanufacture thereof or a portion thereof.

My invention accomplishes the desired results above mentioned byproviding alast in which the fore part and heel part are so constructedand joined together that the desired stretching of the shoe is obtainedby a'downward movement of the heel portion of the last when the last isin a shoe, said downward movement pressing straight against the counterof the shoe and serving to force the fore part of the last forward,thereby causing approximately the whole of the stretching to take placein the forward portion of the vamp. This not only is of great importanceby bringing all the stretching of the leather at that portion of theshoe where said stretching is needed, but also in forcing out andraising or restoring to proper position the box, and thereby restoringto the shoe the desired springor elegance of contour andstyle which thebeating-out process tends to destroy.

Various advantages and further details of construction will be moreparticularly pointed out in the course of the following description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, illustrative of apreferred embodi ment of my invention, and the latter will be moreparticularly defined in the appended claims.

- In the drawings, Figure 1 represents in side elevation 21 lastconstructed according to my invention, parts thereof being broken awayto show the internal construction. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showingthe rear end thereof in top plan. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinalvertical section showing the parts in extended position in full linesand in shortened position in dotted lines. Fig.4 is a rear end elevationof the fore part. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the heel part turnedup, soas to exhibit the heel part of the connecting device or union.

A last is a peculiarly-shaped device, as is evident from theaccompanying drawings, in which it will be observed, for instance, thatthe heel part is somewhat pyramidal in shapet'. 6., it slopes inwardlyfrom the bottom to the top on the sides and also slightly at the backandI take advantage of this shape and of the fact that a shoe has a stiffunyielding counter about the heel to enable me to make an exceedinglysimple and yet effective self-stretching follower A.

The heel part a is separated from the fore part a by an oblique line ofcut a extending from the instep or top of the last at a to a point at ofadjacent the rear lower end of the heel, the result being that thelengthening and shortening movement of the last, due to lowering orraising the heel part, is directly toward or away from the heel part ofthe shoe and in stretching a shoe there is no liability of injuring thelining, because after the heel part has come into direct contact withthe counter portion of the shoe the remaining movement of the heel partnecessary to effect said stretching is, although downward, so slight,and, moreover, isin adirection taking ad vantage of the slope orpyramidal shape of the heel part above mentioned that no injury to thelining of the shoe can take place, but, on the contrary, the

fore part of the last is irresistibly forced forward into the shoe, soas to restore all the parts thereof to their original .and requiredshape.

It will be understood that I do not intend .to restrict my invention tothe details herein set forth, but have set forth said details in orderto make fully known the most advantageous construction or embodiment ofmy invention at present contemplated. In this connection and in orderthat a further extremely important and advantageous result of myinvention may be understood it may be advisable to explain that it iscustomary in shoe manufacture to use one form for heating out shoes fordifferent styles,including different sizes and spring or degree ofcurvature of the toe relatively to the ball of the foot, and as a resultthe individual spring and character of the shoe is spoiled, and myinvention makes it possible to restore this desired individuality to theshoe as it has not been possible to do heretofore by any simple means.

' While accomplishing the above-desired results it is quite necessarythat the construction should be strong-for instance, so that it may beused with a tree, usual vertical spindle-holes b, b, or 17' beingprovided for this purposeand accordinglyl avoid cutting into the heelpart by securing a plate connection to the plane secant face of the heelpart, said connection having, preferably, considerable lateral width,and thereby getting a firm bracing-bearing against said heel part, towhich it is shown as secured by screws 0 and fitting into acorresponding groove 0 in the opposite face of the fore part. Theconnection 0 is longer, and being of substantially the same width as thegroove 0 gives an exceedingly rigid and strong, although light,construction, maintaining the fore part and heel part in accuratealinement, and yet permitting free sliding movement of the parts. Theconnection 0 is provided with a longitudinal slot 0 in which the neck ofa headed device, shown as a screw 0 Works, the head thereof restingbetween the connection a and the face of the heel part.

As a convenient means of assembling the parts I provide an enlargedopening or slot 0 in one end of the connection 0, by means of which theheel part may slide from the bottom of the last upwardly, so as toengage the screw-head c in proper operative relation, as shown in Fig.3.

A suitable locking device is provided for holding the parts inlengthened position, as shown in Fig. 1, said locking device beingherein shown as consisting of a pin 6, normally held upward by a spring6 and limited in its movement by an annularstop or bushing 6 I havearranged this locking device e so as to come adjacent the end of theconnection c in which is the perforation c in order that the slightweakening of said connection by said perforation may be offset by saidlocking device.

I have already alluded to the common hinged last variety of followersand now point out that in such followers a more or less sharp edge andrear corners are left on the fore partwhich dig into the lining of theshoe and injure the same to a greater or less extent, this injury beingmore liable to occur at this stage of the manufacture because the partsare yet soft and usually moist, and hence more liable to becomedistorted and abraded than when subsequently dried and hardened.Accordingly I have shaped the rear end of the fore part at a tocorrespond wit-h the rear end curvature of the heel part when the latteris raised or shortened, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The forepart a is shaved or turned off so as to present a smooth lower edge androunded corners of, the two parts of the last when in collapsed ordotted line position having the shape of the complete full-length last.

From the above description it will be evident that when it is desired touse my last it is simplyinserted in the shoe, being crowded forward to aconvenient extent when inserted, so that the fore part will be inapproximately proper position in the toe end of the shoe, and then theoperator simply presses straight downward upon the heel part, causingthe latter to slide along the inclined surface of the fore part until itcomes into contact with the lining at the counter, whereupon heavydownward pressure forces the fore part forward into absolutely correctdistended position, and the moment the heel part has thus been forceddownward to the full extent required the lock e snaps into its socket,thereby holding the shoe rigidly in properlystretched condition.

When the last is to be removed from a shoe, it will be evident that theheel part does not scrape over the lining of the shoe, as is the casewith hinged heel parts, but, on the contrary, it instantly movesdirectly out of contact with the shoe-lining until it is in the positionindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and when in such position the lastis readily and quickly removable from the shoe Without any danger ofbreaking the instep of the shoe or distorting the shoe in the slightestdegree, and this removal takes place when the rear ends of the fore partand heel part are in position to give togethera rounded smoothbearing-surface to contact with such parts of the shoe as are liable tobe touched thereby in removing the last from the shoe.

While my follower for the best results requires that all the featuresabove explained and shown in the drawings shall be used together, yetseveral of these features are in themselves new and may beadvantageously employed without certain other of the features, and I donot therefore limit myself otherwise than as defined in the claims.

The straight oblique movement enables the heel part to move straightagainst the lining without the sliding movement of the last over theleather, as in the hinged lasts, which sliding movement has beenexceedingly objectionable in tending to open the seams and strain theshoe, and also this same construction enables me to use the same last-i.e., lasts turned to the same size and shape before cuttingfor a numberof sizes of shoes simply by slightly changing the position of thelocking device, it being evident that because of the cooperatingsurfaces at a it is feasible to use the same follower with the heel partin slightly-dilferent positions.

It will be understood that various details of construction andarrangement may be varied from the specific construction herein shownwithout departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

In my application, Serial No. 1,987, I have shown another automaticmeans for locking the two parts of the last in operative lengthenedposition and do not limit my claims thereto in this application to anyspecific device.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. A divided last, having its heel part severed from its fore part on aline of out extending obliquely rearwardly and downwardly, one of saidparts having a vertical groove, and the other of said parts having aplate secured rigidly and immovably thereto and entirely carriedthereby, said plate extending into and substantially fitting saidgroove, said plate presenting a wide front corresponding substantiallyto the width of said groove, said front portion of said plate beinglongitudinally slotted, and a headed stud projecting from the bottom ofsaid groove and entering said slot.

2. A divided last, having its heel part severed from its fore part on aline of cut extending obliquely rearwardly and downwardly, one of saidparts having a vertical groove,

and the other of said parts having a one-piece plate secured rigidlythereto and entirely carried thereby and extending into andsubstantially fitting said groove, said plate presenting a wide frontcorresponding substantially to the width of said groove, said frontportion of said plate beinglongitudinally slotted, and a headed studprojecting from the bottom of said groove and entering said slot, saidplate having at one end an opening from said slot to receive the head ofsaid stud.

3. A last having a separate heel part and fore part arranged to moverelatively to each other into lengthened or shortened position, the rearlower end of said fore part being rounded and shaped to approximate thecurvature of the rear end of the heel part.

4:. A last having a separate heel part and fore part arranged to moverelatively to each other into lengthened or short-ened position, therear lower end of said fore part being rounded and shaped to approximatethe curvature of the rear end of the heel part, said heel part when inits collapsed or shortened position coinciding at its lower rear edgewith the adjacent edge of said rounded part of the fore part, the lastwhen in said shortened position having a substantially smooth andunbroken rear end from its top to the bottom thereof.

5. A divided last having its heel part severed from its fore part, andmovable into shortened or lengthened position as desired,

the heel end of the last, when the heel part and fore part are inshortened position, consisting ofthe contiguous rear ends of both partsof the last and having a smooth symmetrically-curved surface ofapproximately the same shape as that of the heel part when in lengthenedposition.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELLERY O. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL, M. D. OLEMENTS,

